Spells From Advanced Arcana V

Just the other day, we released the fifth installment of our popular Advanced Arcana series. These books aren’t just critically acclaimed for the quality of their spells, but also for the way in which they challenge the status quo of what spells do and how they work. Each book has its own theme or question that it explores with a variety of specialized mechanics included in its spells. For the fifth installment, we decided to pursue a fairly difficult goal, from a game design perspective: we wanted to make spells with a mind of their own.

Perhaps the most obvious way to give a spell a mind of its own is to treat it like any other character in the game with a mind of its own: as an NPC. Patron spells play around in this territory a little bit, as their effects vary wildly depending on the attitude that the caster’s patron (either a cleric’s deity, a shaman’s spirit, or a witch’s patron) has towards the caster or the target, such as burning decree, below.

You call upon your patron or deity to burn your enemies, immolating them in a magical fire that seethes with cosmic displeasure. The spell’s exact effect on any given creature in the area depends on your patron’s attitude towards that creature, as outlined below.

Hostile: If your patron is hostile towards the affected creature, the spell deals 1d8 points of damage per caster level (to a maximum of 15d8). Additionally, the target suffers a -2 penalty on its saving throw, and does not gain the benefits of evasion or improved evasion for the purposes of this spell. Finally, half of the damage inflicted is supernatural fire damage, which is not subject to fire resistance or immunity.

Unfriendly: If your patron is unfriendly towards the affected creature, the spell deals 1d6 points of damage per caster level (to a maximum of 15d6). Additionally, half of the damage inflicted is supernatural fire damage, which is not subject to fire resistance or immunity.

Indifferent: If your patron is indifferent towards the affected creature, the spell deals 1d6 points of damage per caster level (to a maximum of 10d6).

Friendly: If your patron is friendly towards the affected creature, the spell deals 1d4 points of damage per caster level (to a maximum of 10d6), and the creature gains a +4 bonus on his saving throw.

Helpful: If your patron is helpful towards the affected creature, the spell deals no damage to that creature.

I hope you’ve been paying close attention to your deity’s tenets, because for the truly faithful, the rewards can be pretty sweet. And if you’ve done a good job of converting your party around to your patron’s way of thinking? If the party fighter’s in good standing with your patron, you can drop this right on top of him in the middle of combat and not worry about him getting even slightly singed, while all those devoted servants of your patron’s arch-nemesis take massive damage. So, in short, if your party hasn’t fallen in line with your patron’s outlook yet, once you start casting a few patron spells around, they’ll be sorely tempted to convert.

By the way, for those of you who are wondering how exactly one goes about determining the patron’s attitude towards individual characters, there are some pretty thorough and easy-to-use guidelines for handling that at the table in the book.

The next new mechanic I want to show off actually isn’t all that new, for long-time Obscure Arcana readers, although it’s gotten a bit of a facelift. Unsafe spells are a major element in Advanced Arcana Volume V, and this is one of my favorite ones.

You create a writhing mass of webbing, similar to a web spell, but alive and self-supported. Unlike a web spell, a living web forms a dome-like structure that is capable of supporting itself, preventing the need for opposing surfaces to anchor it to.

Anyone in the effect's area when the spell is cast must make a Reflex save. If this save succeeds, the creature is inside the web but is otherwise unaffected. If the save fails, the creature gains the grappled condition, but can break free by making a combat maneuver check or Escape Artist check as a standard action against the DC of this spell. Failure on this check causes the creature to become even more entangled in the web, rendering him pinned. A creature that attempts to escape from being pinned and fails tangles himself hopelessly, and effectively becomes tied up. The DC to escape from being tied up in this way is equal to 20 + the spell’s level + your primary spellcasting ability score modifier.

Creatures that choose not to attempt to escape the grapple do not entangle themselves further in this way, but the web itself writhes in a lifelike fashion, slowly cocooning creatures caught in it. A creature that remains grappled by the web for 5 consecutive rounds automatically becomes pinned, and a creature that remains pinned for 10 consecutive rounds automatically becomes tied up.

The entire area of the web is considered difficult terrain. Anyone moving through the webs must make a combat maneuver check or Escape Artist check as part of their move action, with a DC equal to the spell's DC. Creatures that fail lose their movement and become grappled in the first square of webbing that they enter.

If you have at least 5 feet of web between you and an opponent, it provides cover. If you have at least 20 feet of web between you, it provides total cover. Unlike a web spell, a living web is not particularly flammable.

Unsafe: When you cast this spell, you must succeed on a concentration check (DC 27) or the living web escapes your control. Instead of forming a 20-foot-radius spread of webs, the webs wrap themselves around you, automatically cocooning you in webbing. Treat this as being tied up in a grapple. The DC to escape is equal to 20 + the spell’s level + your primary spellcasting ability score modifier. You cannot dismiss the spell while tied up in this way.

As you can see, living web provides a pretty powerful punch for its spell level, but if you aren’t careful with it, and fail that concentration check, it can backfire on you in a pretty nasty way. The idea is to make spells that feel more mysterious and mercurial, and which even powerful spellcasters have to think twice before casting, because they could go wrong. This wild, feral magic can breathe some fresh life into spellcasting for those of you who feel that you’ve learned everything there is to know about magic and find the whole thing to be a bit blasé. It’s also yet another way that Advanced Arcana Volume V goes about creating spells with a mind of their own.

Sometimes, the best way to make a spell feel like it has a mind of its own is to just make it unpredictable, and take some element of control out of the caster’s hands. That’s exactly what capricious spells do. This variant of conditional spells, from previous volumes of Advanced Arcana, is actually two spells in one, and you don’t know which one you’ll get until you cast it. Take one of my favorites, vaporous summons, for example:

You conjure forth a cloud of deadly vapors to do your bidding and destroy your foes. Exactly what form this cloud takes and how it does its work depends on a Spellcraft check, which you make at the time that the spell is cast. This Spellcraft check not only determines how effective the spell is, but also what form it takes: if the result is odd, you create a cloud of deadly, acidic mists, which obscures vision, slows opponents, and inflicts acid damage. If the result is even, you instead summon one or more hungry mists, which fight on your behalf.

Cloud: This version of the spell is of the creation subschool and has the acid descriptor. It creates a cloud of misty green vapors in a 20-foot radius, 20 feet high. These vapors are thin enough that they do not obscure vision, but their acidic nature inflicts damage on any creature that enters or begins its turn within the cloud. The amount of damage depends on the result of the Spellcraft check made when the spell was cast. The cloud inflicts 2d6 points of damage, plus an additional 1d6 points of damage for every 6 points by which the result of the Spellcraft check exceeds 19 (to a maximum of 8d6, with a result of 55). A successful Reflex save halves this damage.

Summon: This version of the spell is of the summoning subschool, and functions as summon monster I, except that it always summons one or more hungry mists (see Pathfinder Bestiary 3). The number of hungry mists summoned depends on the result of the Spellcraft check made when the spell was cast. You summon 1d3 hungry mists, plus 1 additional hungry mist for every 5 points by which the result of the Spellcraft check exceeds 20 (to a maximum of 1d3+5 hungry mists, with a result of 50).

Once again, the spell is stronger than we might expect at this level, but in order to pay for that increased power, you have to give up exact control over what, exactly, the spell does. All of the capricious spells have two modes, one which happens on an odd result, and one which occurs on an even result, although both modes are very closely related thematically, and it will be fairly rare that you won’t get some benefit from the spell either way. If you’re sick of spitting out boring, predictable save-or-die spells and not even getting to make any rolls (just telling the GM to make a saving throw), this is definitely the mechanic for you.

There are two whole other mechanics that we didn’t even touch on: automatic spells, which are prepared with a randomly-determined trigger condition, and cast themselves automatically when that occurs—with no effort or action required on your part, but also without you being able to stop them if the timing is inconvenient—and interactive spells, which allow the caster to spend actions focusing on the spell in order to get more benefit from it. Sadly, there isn’t enough time or space here to get into the details of those mechanics, so rather than show you examples of those spells, why don’t I give you some of the many other spells, with no specific mechanics attached to them, that the rest of the book is packed with?

You create a wall that is tied to one of the four elements. The exact nature of the wall depends on the element that you choose at the time the spell is cast.

Air: The wall consists of a hurricane of blowing wind. It functions as a wind wall, but matches the dimensions listed above. Additionally, creatures of Medium size or smaller must succeed on a Strength check (DC 15) or be unable to enter the wall’s space, as the howling wind pushes them back. Creatures of Tiny size or smaller are incapable of entering the wall’s space entirely.

Earth: The wall consists of hardened earth and stone. It has hardness 8 and 900 hit points. The wall is rough and uneven, however, and can be climbed fairly easily (Climb DC 15). If created on a surface of earth or stone that extends deep enough, the wall extends for 20 feet below the surface of the ground as well, obstructing burrowing creatures’ movement. Even creatures with earthglide, or similar abilities that would allow them to move through solid stone, must expend two squares of movement for every square of the wall that they pass through.

Fire: The wall consists of a translucent sheet of flame. Any creature that attempts to pass through the wall, or who begins his turn within the wall’s area, suffers an amount of fire damage equal to 2d6 + your caster level. A successful Reflex save halves this damage. Unattended objects (including projectile weapons) passing through the wall are also subject to this damage.

Water: The wall consists of a quivering mass of water, held in place by magic. The water provides cover and concealment (20% miss chance) to creatures on the other side, and creatures within the wall’s space have cover and concealment against those outside the wall, and vice versa. Creatures can enter the wall without difficulty, but must then make Swim checks in order to move. The churning nature of the water renders the DC for Swim checks within the wall 20. Further, you move at the normal speed for swimming, meaning that each square you move within the wall’s space (including entering it) costs 4 squares of movement. Creatures that cannot breathe water must hold their breath within the wall, or risk drowning.

You cause the bones in your target’s limbs to explode outward, causing serious harm. If the target succeeds on his Fortitude saving throw, this spell has no effect. However, if the target fails his save, he suffers 5d6 points of damage, as one of his arms or legs explodes. A successful Reflex save halves this damage and negates the harmful effects of losing an arm or leg. Determine which limb is affected randomly. The effects of losing a limb are outlined below:

Arm: A character that loses an arm is unable to hold anything with that arm, though he can still affix a shield to that arm. The character loses the ring slot associated with the missing hand. The character can cast spells with somatic components without difficulty, but must use his remaining hand to do so: the missing arm cannot be used to make somatic components. The target suffers a -5 penalty on Craft, Disable Device, and Sleight of Hand checks, and a -10 penalty on Climb checks and Disguise checks made to appear as someone with both hands. A -5 penalty may also apply to certain Perform checks (at the GM’s discretion). The character also suffers a -6 penalty to CMB for the purposes of the dirty trick, drag, grapple, and reposition maneuvers, and a -6 penalty to CMD for the purposes of creatures attempting to escape from a grapple with the target. Further, the missing arm cannot be used to perform disarm or steal combat maneuvers. Finally, the character’s Strength score is treated as being 8 lower than it actually is for the purposes of determining how much weight he can lift off the ground or lift overhead, though his actual carrying capacity is unaffected.

A character that loses both arms cannot hold or carry objects normally, and suffers a -20 penalty to the listed skills, instead of the normal amounts. The penalties to CMB and CMD increase to -15, and the target can no longer make disarm or steal combat maneuvers. Characters with no arms cannot use items that occupy the wrist slot, cannot cast spells with somatic components, and cannot make Climb checks.

Leg: A character that loses a leg is unable to run or charge, and cannot take the 5-foot step action. His movement speed is reduced to 1/4 his original speed (rounded down, minimum 5 feet), and he suffers a -8 penalty to CMB and CMD for the purposes of bull rush and overrun combat maneuvers. He cannot make trip combat maneuvers without a held weapon, and suffers a -4 penalty to CMD versus trip combat maneuvers. Additionally, he suffers a -10 penalty to Acrobatics and Climb checks, as well as Disguise checks made to appear as someone with both feet, and certain Perform checks (at the GM’s discretion). Finally, he calculates his carrying capacity (including light, medium, and heavy loads) as though his Strength score were 5 lower than it actually is.

A character that loses both legs is always prone, and cannot walk. He can crawl 5 feet as a move action that provokes attacks of opportunity, as normal for a prone character. He cannot make bull rush or overrun combat maneuvers. He cannot make Climb checks, and suffers a -40 penalty on Acrobatics checks, Disguise checks made to appear as a character with both legs, and certain Perform checks (at the GM’s discretion). Finally, the character treats his Strength score as though it were 15 lower than it actually is for the purposes of determining his carrying capacity (including light, medium, and heavy loads), to a minimum Strength score of 1.